Russo: NHL schedule news; Langenbrunner interested in Wild

Blog Post by: Michael Russo

July 18, 2013 - 9:53 AM

UPDATE: The Wild re-signed former Minnesota-Duluth national champ Justin Fontaine to a one-year, two-way contract. The Houston Aeros' leading scorer from a year ago (56 points in 64 games) would have to pass through waivers to get to AHL Iowa if he doesn't make the Wild in September. The Wild is also close to re-signing Carson McMillan.

After much anticipation for the NHL schedules to be announced Wednesday, further patience is required. While all teams have drafts of their 2013-14 schedules, they cannot be released until an agreement is officially reached to have NHL players participate in the Winter Olympics in February.

It's basically a done deal. The Wild has a 19-day break in February already mapped out, but the final lawyerese is still being drafted apparently between the IOC, NHLPA and NHL. Hopefully, an agreement will be finalized Thursday, and the league can announce its schedules and division names.

You know that the league would have given anything for that announcement to come today. With Major League Baseball wrapping up All-Star break, the sports pages would have belonged to the NHL -- well, in theory.

The Wild opens at home vs. Los Angeles on Oct. 3.

I'll be on XM Home Ice at 8:25 a.m. CT Thursday, KFAN at 12:30 and CHED in Edmonton at 1:30. I'm also filling in for Paul Allen on KFAN from 9-noon Monday.

The Wild will likely have an Iowa coach in place by early next week.

Lastly, as I reported July 5, former USA/Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner, 37, a buddy and former linemate of Zach Parise, is not ready for retirement after season-ending hip surgery with St. Louis and would love to play for Minnesota.

The Duluth News Tribune quoted Langenbrunner saying as such in today's newspaper. The story can be read here.

Langenbrunner's agent has indeed reached out to Wild GM Chuck Fletcher to see if there's interest. But remember, Langenbrunner, a former Cloquet High standout and Duluth native, wanted to play for the Wild last summer, too, and there was never any traction after the Wild signed Torrey Mitchell and Zenon Konopka hours into free agency.

My gut? The Wild may eventually be interested in bringing Langenbrunner in on perhaps a pro tryout. But as of now, it seems unwilling to extend an actual contract offer.

Cap space is tight, but this is less a cap space issue and more a roster spot issue. The Wild can only keep 13 forwards, maybe 14. But if you consider there's a 23-man roster, that's probably actually going to break down as 13 forwards, eight defensemen and two goalies.

So if the Wild signs Langenbrunner (or another depth player with younger, faster legs than him; remember, there's several free agents out there who too would probably want to play for Minnesota or any team at this juncture), and then suddenly a Granlund or Niederreiter or Haula or Fontaine show in camp that they deserve a roster spot, they could be completely blocked from the spot because of the signing.

There's no doubt Langenbrunner would bring a character presence and a bunch of intangibles to the Wild, or for that matter, any team. And according to the Duluth story, he feels great right now on the ice.

But as cool as it would be to have Langenbrunner in Wild colors, it may be very difficult unless there's another trade this summer to move a forward. But, like I said, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Wild ultimately brings a couple players, maybe including Langenbrunner, into camp on tryouts rather than actual contracts from the outset.

Then, if those players on tryouts deserve a spot, or the Wild sustains injuries in camp, the Wild could then find a way to make something happen.

* Entry-level deals that don't require waivers to be sent to the minors.

Note: The depth chart is my opinion. Maybe a guy like Haula performs so well in camp, he gets the No. 2 center job. Maybe Granlund outperforms Niederreiter. Or, maybe Fontaine is so good, he makes the team and a guy like Mitchell moves up and plays third-line RW.